According to sources, the Cabinet Committee on Appointments had on June 4 cleared the decks for Ranjit’s appointment.

Ranjit Kumar will succeed Mohana Parasaran, who had resigned in the wake of UPA II going out of office. The office of Solicitor General saw some turbulent moments during the tenure of UPA II.

Among Parasaran's predecessors, Gopal Subramanium had resigned on July 14, 2011, in the wake of a controversy over the then communications minister Kapil Sibal opting for senior counsel Rohinton Nariman to represent him in the Apex Court in a case where a probe was sought against him for allegedly favouring a telecom operator.

Nariman, who succeeded Subramanium on July 23, 2011, resigned in February 2013 following differences with the then law minister Ashwani Kumar.

It is learnt that the Cabinet Committee on Appointments also cleared the appointment of Maninder Singh, L Nageshwar Rao, Tushar Mehta, PS Patwalia and Neeraj Kishen Kaul as Additional Solicitors General (ASG).

Nageshwar Rao was also ASG during the tenure of UPA II, while Mehta - currently Gujarat's Additional Advocate General - has represented the state government before the Apex Court in several cases.